Under
the provisions in the Constitution of India, although
the Executive is responsible to the
Legislature, yet it is not possible
for the Legislative Assembly to examine in
detail the functions of Executive. Therefore, According to rule 180 of
the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of
Business in Rajasthan Legislative Assembly, a
Parliamentary Committee is a Committee which is
appointed or elected by the House or nominated by the Speaker.

Parliamentary
Committees can be divided in to two categories, first is the
Standing Committees and second is Ad hoc Committee. In
Rajasthan Legislative Assembly, there are 17 standing
Committees out of which four are financial and
rest relates to various other subject. The financial Committees
are elected and others are nominated by the
Speaker. All the Committees consist of not more than 15 members
including the Chairman except the Library Committee which consist of
not more than 10 members including the Chairman. These Committees are
constituted from amongst the members of the Ruling
and Opposition parties selected and nominated
by the Speaker. The term of office of the members is not
more than one year. But if a member, after his nomination to
the Committee, is appointed a Minister, he ceases to be a member of Committee
from the date of such appointment. This provision does not
apply in the case of the Leader of the House, who may be the Chief
Minister also, as far as the Business Advisory Committee is concerned.

According
to rule 188 of the rules of Procedure and
Conduct of Business in Rajasthan Legislative Assembly,
A Committee may appoint one or more sub-Committees, each having
the powers of the undivided Committee, to examine any matters that may
be referred to them, and the reports of such sub Committee, shall
be deemed to be the reports of the whole Committee, If they
are approved at a sitting of the whole Committee.

Functioning of Committees :

Among the
Standing Committees are the three financial Committees
(1) The Committee on Public Accounts
(2) (a) The Estimates Committee `A'
(b) The Estimates Committee `B'
(3) The Committee on the Public Undertakings

Functions
of financial Committees are as follows -

Public Accounts Committee :

The
Public Accounts Committee consists of not
more than 15 members elected from
amongst its members according to the
principle of proportional representation by
means of single transferable vote. The term of office of
members of the Committee does not exceed one
year. The Chairman of the Committee is appointed
by the Speaker from amongst the
members of the Committee. No Minister can be a member of the Committee.

The
Committee examines the accounts showing the appropriation of sums granted by the
House for the expenditure of the state, finance accounts of the state and such other
accounts as the Committee may deem fit. It also examines
the money shown in the accounts as having been
disbursed were legally available to the service
or purpose to which they have been applied or
charged, that the expenditure conforms to the
authority which governs it, and that every reappropriation
has been made in accordance with
the provisions made in this behalf under rules framed by the competent
authority. If any money has been spent on
any service during financial year in
excess of the amount granted by Legislative
Assembly, for that purpose, the Committee may examine the factors responsible for
such excess expenditure in each case.

Estimates Committees :

There
are two Estimates Committees in the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly
: namely the Estimates Committee `A' and the Estimates Committee `B'; and the
various departments of the Government are divided between them. Not more than 15
members constitute these Committees and the Chairman is
appointed by the Speaker from amongst the members
of the Committee. The tenure of the Committee
is one year.

The
Committee examines the estimates of the various Ministries / Departments and
suggests the what economies, improvements in organisation and
efficiency or administrative reforms consistent with the policy underlying
the estimates may be effected. It examines whether the
money is well laid out within the limits of the policy implied
in the estimates. It may also suggest alternative policies in
order to bring about efficiency and economy in administration.

Public Undertakings
Committee :

The
Committee on Public Undertakings is composed of 15 members elected every
year by the House from amongst its members. The Chairman is
appointed by the Speaker.

The
functions of the Committee include the examination of
the reports and accounts of the Public Undertakings ; and to
examine the report of the Comptroller and Auditor -
General on Public Undertakings, whether the affairs of
the Public Undertakings are being managed in accordance
with sound principle of business and prudent commercial practices. According to rule 233A
of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of
Business in Rajasthan Legislative Assembly, the functions of the
Committee shall be -

(a) to
examine the reports and accounts of the Public Undertaking specified in Fifth
Schedule and such other Undertakings as may be decided by the House from time to time or
the Speaker when the House is not in session;

(b) to
examine the reports, if any, of the Comptroller and Auditor - General on Public
Undertakings;

(c) to
examine, in the context of the autonomy and efficiency of the Public Undertakings, whether
the affairs of the Public Undertakings are being managed in accordance with sound business
principles and prudent commercial practices; and

(d) to
exercise such other functions vested in the Committee on the Public Accounts and the
Committee on the Estimates in relation on the Public Undertakings specified in the Fifth
Schedule as are not covered by clauses (a),(b) and (c) above and as may be allotted to the
Committee by the Speaker from time to time.

Besides the
above mentioned Standing Committees the Assembly has the following Committees which are
being nominated by the Speaker :

Committee on Subordinate
Legislation :

According
to rule 238 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Rajasthan Legislative
Assembly, there shall be a Committee on Subordinate Legislation to scrutinize and report
to the House whether the powers to make regulations, rules, sub rules, bye-laws,etc,
conferred by the Constitution or delegated by Legislature are being properly exercised
within such delegation.

Committee on the
Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes :

From time
to time the Committee selects such subjects pertaining to the welfare of Scheduled Castes
and Scheduled Tribes as may seem fit to the Committee. The Committee may also examine
matters of special interest to the welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes which
may arise or come to light in the course of its working or which may be specifically
referred to it by the House or by the Speaker.

Business Advisory Committee
:

At the
commencement of the House or from time to time, as the case may be, the Speaker may
nominate a Committee called the Business Advisory Committee consisting of not more than
fifteen members including the Speaker who shall be the Chairman of the Committee.

Provided
that the Speaker may invite any other member including the Leader of the House, where he
is not a member of the Committee, as a special invite at a sitting of the
Committee for consultation or advice.

The
functions of the Committee which have been specified in the Rule of procedure and Conduct
of Business in Rajasthan Legislative Assembly under rule 213 are as follows :

(1) It
shall be the function of the Committee to recommend -

(a) the
order in which Government and other business may be discussed in the House;

(b) the
number of hours or days or actual day or days that may be allotted for discussion of
different types of Government and other business.

(2) The
Committee shall have the power to indicate in the proposed time-table the different hours
at which the various stages of the Bill or other business shall be completed.

(3) The
Committee shall have such other functions as may be assigned to it by the Speaker from
time to time.

House Committee :

The functions of the House
Committee shall be advisory and Committee deal with all questions relating to residential
accommodation for members of Assembly. The House Committee exercise supervision over
facilities for accommodation, food, medical aid and other amenities accorded to members in
members residences and hostels in Jaipur, in particular and over other amenities and
facilities provided to members under rules.

Rules Committee :

The Committee on Rules
shall be nominated by the Speaker and shall consist of fifteen members including the
Chairman of the Committee. The Speaker shall be the ex-officio Chairman of the Committee.
There shall be a Committee on Rules to consider matters of procedure and conduct of
business in the House and to recommend any amendments or additions to these rules that may
be deemed necessary.

Library Committee :

The
function of the Library Committee shall be consider and advise on such matters concerning
the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly Library and the Research and Reference Branch as may be
referred to it by the Speaker from time to time. The Committee shall be consider
suggestions for the improvement of the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly Library and the
Research and Reference Branch.

Committee on Petitions :

The subject
matter of petition may be a Bill or any matter connected with the business before
the House or any other matter of general public interest. Petitions are not admissible
which deal with matters which fall within the cognizance of a Court or quasi judicial
body; which should ordinarily be raised in a State Legislature or can be raised on a
substantive motion or resolution; those relating personal or individual grievances.

The
Committee shall examine every petition referred to it, and if the petition complies with
these rules, the Committee may direct that it be circulated. where circulation of the
petition has not been directed, the Speaker may at any time direct that the petition be
circulated. It shall also be the duty of the Committee to report to the House on specific
complaints made in the petition referred to it after taking such evidence as it deems fit
and to suggest remedial measures either in a concrete form applicable to the case under
review or to prevent such cases in future.

Committee on Privileges :

The
Committee on Privileges examines every question of privilege referred to it and determines
with reference to the facts of each case whether a breach of privilege is involved and, if
so, the nature of the breach, the circumstances leading to it and makes such
recommendations as it may deem fit.

A question
of privilege is referred to the Committee by the House or by the Speaker, For a proper
examination of the question of privilege involved, the Committee may hear the member who
raised the question of privilege in the House, or permit him to explain his case in a
written statement, or hear any other member of the House who may desire to place his views
before the Committee on the question of privilege under consideration, or decide not to
hear him. Where the breach of privilege involved is that of a member of the House, the
Committee may afford him an opportunity to explain his case before the Committee in
person.

After the
report of the Committee has been presented to the House, the Chairman or any member of the
Committee or any other member may move that the report be taken into consideration the
Chairman or any member of the Committee or any other member may move that the House agrees
or disagrees with the amendments, to the recommendations contained in the report.

Committee on Government Assurances :

There shall be a Committee
on Government Assurances to scrutinize the assurances, promises, undertakings etc. given
by Ministers from time to time on the floor of the House and to report on the extent to
which such assurances, promises, undertakings, etc. have been implemented; and where
implemented whether such implementation has taken place within the minimum time necessary
for the purpose.

General Purposes Committee :

There shall be a General
Purposes Committee consisting of the Speaker, Deputy Speaker, members of the Panel of
Chairmen, Chairmen of all standing Parliamentary Committees of the Rajasthan Legislative
Assembly (except the Parliamentary Consultative Committees), Leaders of recognised parties
and groups in the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly and such other members as may be
nominated by the Speaker. The Speaker shall be the ex-officio Chairman of the Committee.
The functions of the Committee shall be to consider and advise on such matters concerning
the affairs of the House as may be referred to it by the Speaker from time to time.

Question and Reference Committee :

At
the beginning of each financial year of the Legislative Assembly, the Speaker shall
constitute a "Question and Reference Committee", the term of office of which
shall be one year.
The functions of the Committee are as follows -

(1) If the
answer to a starred question, unstarred question, short notice question, call attention
motion and a notice under rule 295 is not received from the Government in time even after
sufficient opportunity having been given or if the answer received does not give
satisfaction to the Speaker and the Speaker deems it proper so to do, he may refer the
matter to the Question and Reference Committee.

(2) In
addition to the matters aforesaid, any matter relating to the House, if not within the
jurisdiction of any other Committee under the rules, may be referred by the Speaker to the
said Committee for consideration.

Women and Children Welfare Committee :

The Speaker
shall as far as may be, at the beginning of the financial year, constitute a Committee on
the Welfare of Women and Children, the term of office of which shall ordinarily be two
years.

There shall
be a Committee for the prevention of atrocity on, traffic in and exploitation of women and
children as well as for their welfare. The functions of the Committee shall be consider
the complaints received with regard to the atrocities, trafficking and exploitation
against the provisions of the constitution of India or of a Rajasthan Act, and to give a
report to the Assembly as to what action should be taken by the State government with
regard to the matter under its jurisdiction. The Committee shall examine complaints
generally relating to all matters covering atrocities on, traffic in and exploitation of
the women and children in the State and particularly to the following subjects and shall
submit its comments, suggestions and recommendations by way of a report to the Assembly.

Normally,
the reports of these Committees are presented to the House by the Chairman of the
Committee but when the House is not in session and the Committee has finalised its report,
the Chairman may submit the report to the Speaker.

Select Committee :

It is an
ad-hoc Committee. The procedure for constituting a Select Committee and submission of
report by it after consideration of a Bill conforms to that prevailing in Parliament.
After the first reading of a Bill, the member-in-charge or the Minister-in-charge of the
Bill moves a motion to the effect that the Bill be referred to a Select Committee
constituted by the members of the House with instructions to present its report to the
House within a stipulated period. The Minister-in-charge of the Bill is ex-offico of the
Select Committee.

The Select
Committee considers the provisions of the Bill and can also obtain thereon the views of an
expert or people's representative having interest in the subject-matter of the Bill. If a
member of the Select Committee disagrees with the decision taken by the Committee on the
amendments proposed by it in its report, he may get recorded a minute of dissent. The
report of the Committee, together with the minutes of dissent, is published in the Gazette
and copies thereof are circulated to all the members of the House. That report is
presented to the House and considered by, it. The rules also provide that if the House is
of the opinion that the Bill be referred to the Select Committee again, it may do so, but
it can be done only once.

Parliamentary Consultative Committees :

The
Speaker, in consultation with the Leader of the House may constitute as many Parliamentary
Consultative Committees in respect of any department or any group of departments of the
state Government, as he deems fit, which shall consist exclusively of the members of the
Legislative Assembly. A Minister or a Minister of State having independent charge of any
department/departments is appointed the Chairman of each Parliamentary Consultative
Committee. Parliamentary Consultative Committees are constituted in the beginning of the
term of the Legislative Assembly, but the Speaker, after consultation with the Leader of
the House, may reconstitute any of these Committees whenever he deems it necessary.

Parliamentary
Consultative Committees act as links between the members of Legislature and the State
Government members from the State Government and make available to the members from such
information in regard to policy, programmes, schemes, performance, achievements, working
and expenditure of the concerned department/departments as they may seek and work as a
forum for consultations and exchange of views.

Normally,
the meetings of Consultative Committees are held on the day or days on which there is no
sitting of the House, but at the instance of the Chairman, the meeting of Committee can be
held on the day of the sitting of the House. In any case the meeting of every
Parliamentary Consultative Committee is held at least once in every two months between the
period from the date on which the Legislative Assembly adjourns sine die and the date of
commencement of the next sitting of the Assembly. Any of the proceedings of the
deliberations of Committee are not to be referred to by the members or the Chairman in the
House.

In the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly the Parliamentary Consultative Committees have become the
part of Committee System. These are constituted under Rule 253(I) of Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business of Rajasthan Legislative Assembly. The Ministers or State
Ministers having independent charge of a Department or Departments are the Chairman of these committees.

Committee on Welfare of Minorities :

The committee examines the steps taken by the State government for the welfare and overall development of minorities.

Committee on Local Bodies and Panchayati Raj Institutions :

The committee examines the accounts showing the appropriation of sums granted by
the House for the expenditure of the Local Bodies and Panchayati Raj Institutions; the annual finance accounts of the Local Bodies and Panchayati Raj Institutions;
and such other accounts laid before the House as the committee may think fit. It also examines whether the Local Bodies and the Panchayati Raj Institutions are performing
their duties in accordance with the law bearing in mind the autonomy of the Local Bodies and Panchayati Raj Institutions.

Committee on Environment :

The committee’s functions include study of the environmental problems within the State and
examination of the nature, degree and extent of the environmental imbalances caused by different kinds of pollution in the State and results thereof. Further, it suggests
remedial measures for the prevention and control of environmental problems. It also reviews the implementation of the plans and programmes (both Central and State) relating
to maintenance of environmental balance in the State. It also examines the annual report of the State Department/Board in respect of environment with a view to find out whether
the expenditure incurred was commensurate with the results achieved.

Committee on Ethics :

The Committee on Ethics examines complaints relating to unethical conduct of a member both
within and outside of the House referred to it by the Speaker, the House or taken up by it suo-motu. A complaint relating to the unethical conduct of a member, including
a minister, outside the House may be made by any person to the Speaker in writing, who may refer it to the committee for enquiry and report. The Committee, after enquiring
and investigating the complaint, submits its report to the House with its recommendations.